Almost 900 civil servants have been added to the payroll since the National Assembly was set up in 1999, pushing the annual bill to #91.6m a year.

Figures obtained by the South Wales Echo reveal that on December 1 last year, the number of staff stood at 3,215, compared with 2,345 in May, 1999.

There has been a rise of 280 in the number who work at the assembly since last May, around 100 of them transferring to the control of Cardiff Bay from the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency.

The estimated bill for assembly staffing during the present financial year now stands at #91.6m, which includes employing casuals, travel and subsidence, hospitality and mobile phones. It was #70.7m before devolution. A spokeswoman said that since May 2001, 147 staff had been recruited to meet "operational needs".

The Presiding Office staff numbers rose by 33 over the same period.

The assembly government has insisted the staff increases reflected the enhanced policy and legislative role of the assembly since devolution. It said 168 other staff had also transferred since May 1999 when the assembly assumed control of organisations such as the Wales European Programme Executive, the Welsh Drug and Alcohol Unit and the Teacher Training Agency.

The Wales Office employs 40, a rise of 10 since July 1999. Most are based in London, with eight posts in Cardiff.

Conservative AM Glyn Davies, a critic of the way the assembly spends public money, said: "When the assembly was proposed, people were not told the full cost."